Thai Fishing Industry Uses Rohingya Slaves

This is an important an investigative report into Thailand’s $7 billion seafood industry, “Rohingya migrants trafficked through deadly jungle camps have been sold to Thai fishing vessels as slaves to produce seafood sold across the world, the Guardian has established. So profitable is the trade in slaves that some local fishermen in Thailand have been converting their boats to carry Rohingya migrants instead of fish. A Guardian investigation into Thailand’s export-orientated seafood business and the vast transnational trafficking syndicates that had, until recently, been holding thousands of Rohingya migrants captive in jungle camps, has exposed strong and lucrative links between the two. Testimony from survivors, brokers and human rights groups indicate that hundreds of Rohingya men were sold from the network of trafficking camps recently discovered in southern Thailand.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/1OrVKkJ)

This Will Be a Hollow Victory...Burundi is set to hold the presidential election Tuesday amid unrest over incumbent President Pierre Nkuruniziza’s bid for a third term in office. A grenade exploded in Bujumbura, the capital’s central business district, but did not wound anyone, said Deputy Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye. The explosion highlights fears that the polls may trigger violence. Preparations for voting day are complete with ballot boxes and papers distributed to nearly 11,500 voting centers throughout the country and security has been improved to ensure a smooth voting process, the electoral commission Spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye said Monday.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/1fhRiJe)

Africa

The trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre accused of overseeing the deaths of thousands had a chaotic beginning Monday as security forces ushered the ex-leader into and then out of the Senegal courtroom amid protests by his supporters. (AP http://yhoo.it/1If76JK)

A highly contagious strain of avian flu is spreading across West Africa, decimating poultry farms and stoking fears the virus will jump from birds to humans, the U.N.’s food agency warned on Monday. (TRF http://yhoo.it/1If7TdT)

Civil society organizations in Uganda say a proposed new law to regulate their activities is intended to stifle freedoms and blunt criticism of government ahead of presidential elections next year. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1If8gVU)

When Barack Obama visits Africa this month, he will be welcomed by a continent that had expected closer attention from a man they claim as their son, a sentiment felt acutely in the Kenyan village where the 44th U.S. president’s father is buried. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1If7Uyh)

Four years after the civil war ended in Ivory Coast the economy is booming, but for men like Yaboua Assie, who lost two young daughters in one of the conflict’s most notorious massacres, the justice they seek remains as elusive as ever. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Gw3RWW)

Africa is expected to establish a continental Centre for Disease Control as part of its fight against communicable diseases that have retarded countries’ growth. (The Herald http://bit.ly/1ebTMI5)

MENA

Aid group raises Yemen death toll from Shiite rebel shelling near Aden to at least 100. (AP http://yhoo.it/1Gw21Wj)

A suicide bomber has attacked a cultural centre hosting anti-Islamic State activists in a Turkish town near the border with Syria, killing at least 31 people in an “act of terror” blamed on the jihadist group. (ABC-Australia http://ab.co/1fhQWCo)

The children had all been shown videos of beheadings and told by their trainers with the Islamic State group that they would perform one someday. First, they had to practice technique. The more than 120 boys were each given a doll and a sword and told, cut off its head. AP with the story: http://yhoo.it/1Gw1TG7

Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Israel of “abusive arrests” of Palestinian children as young as 11 and of using threats to force them to sign confessions. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1If7Tus)

The developer of a branch of the Louvre being built in the Emirati capital says one of the workers on the project has died in the first such incident on the project. (AP http://yhoo.it/1If8g8f)

The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the historic deal on Iran’s nuclear program and cleared a path to lift sanctions crippling its economy. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1MkuG8P)

Asia

Protesters clashed with police in southern Nepal on Monday as the government tried to collect the public’s suggestions on the draft of the country’s long-overdue constitution. (AP http://yhoo.it/1If74BK)

Malaysian authorities said they had blocked a UK-based website that had published corruption allegations against Prime Minister Najib Razak, but the portal vowed Monday to press on with its exposes. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1If75Wl)

A prominent Chinese rights lawyer whose trial is drawing near on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and provoking trouble has been denied access to lawyers for nearly a month, his wife and one of his attorneys said Monday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1If78Bv)

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s hostility to “visually awful” wind farms has sent a chill through the industry and could jeopardize the country’s biggest renewable energy project, a $2 billion-plus wind and solar plant in the country’s north. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1If71G5)

A teenager who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in March escaped her captors Monday when government troops discovered the militants’ jungle hideout in the southern Philippines, the military said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1MkuHJW)

The Americas

The Cuban flag was raised over Havana’s embassy in Washington on Monday for the first time in 54 years as the United States and Cuba formally restored relations, opening a new chapter of engagement between the former Cold War foes. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1If77NS)

…and the rest

PATH has identified 30 health innovations that will help achieve the new development agenda, ranging from a simple, low-cost antiseptic to prevent newborn infections to new technologies for small-scale water treatment at the community level—two innovations that, with expanded use, could save the lives of 2.5 million newborns and children by 2030.   http://ic2030.org/

Nearly 20 million people were forced to flee their homes due to floods, storms and earthquakes last year, a problem likely to worsen due to climate change, but which could be eased by better construction, a report said on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1MkuHtu)

AIDS researchers released a call to action for a worldwide shift in HIV treatment, to providing medication immediately after diagnosis instead of first watching for signs of illness to appear. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1If75FS)

Nearly one in every 10 people has a mental health disorder, but just 1% of the global health workforce are working as psychiatrists, occupational therapists or social workers, the WHO has revealed in a report that highlights deepening inequality in access to mental health treatment. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1fYHBQH)

The European Union will try to reach an agreement on Monday to tackle the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean despite resistance from Spain and Poland, who say they are not ready to absorb large numbers of new asylum seekers. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Gw3OdG)

Opinion/Blogs

Moises Naim is an all around big thinker, author, commentator, longtime editor of Foreign Policy magazine, former World Bank Executive and a former cabinet minister in Venezuela. He discusses his life, career and intellectual development in the latest Global Dispatches Podcast with Mark → http://bit.ly/1Dqk7Je

The ‘boat people’ crisis won’t end until Burma stops persecuting the Rohingya (Guardian http://bit.ly/1OrVC4X)

Africa is the Frontier (The Star http://bit.ly/1ebU01Z)

Interview: Sierra Leone Is in a Much Better Shape to Deal With Ebola (Concord Times http://bit.ly/1ebU15Z)

Lessons in global health: let poor countries run their own programmes (Guardian http://bit.ly/1ebTIZ4)

Financing Development – Did Addis Summit Meet Expectations? (New Times http://bit.ly/1ebU2H0)

Will Buhari Meet Historic Governance Challenge? (AfricaPlus http://bit.ly/1fYI3yt)

Victims in the Driver’s Seat: The Trial of Hissène Habré (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1OrXZ7L)

The problem with evidence based policy change is we don’t have evidence on the important policies (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/1OrY6A6)

3 ideas for making locally-led aid responses a reality (How Matters http://bit.ly/1MkwUoN)

The Trial of Hissène Habré: Five Thoughts (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1OrYqyO)

Data in action: The role of data in humanitarian disasters (Devex http://bit.ly/1OrYv5B)